ELIJAH JOSEPH ULBRICH - 3 yo - Cape May/ Lower Township NJ

A Lower Township charged with murder in the beating death of a 3-year-old boy has pleaded not guilty. Charles Kane Jr., who also faces child endangerment charges, could
face life in prison if convicted on all counts. The 35-year-old Lower
Township resident entered his pleas Friday during a brief court hearing. Cape May County prosecutors contend Kane brutally beat Elijah Joseph
Ulbrich while he was babysitting him last February. The boy's mother had
left him with Kane while she ran some errands and, when she returned,
she found the child was unresponsive and had a knot on his head.
The boy was rushed to the hospital but never regained consciousness
before he died about three weeks later. An autopsy determined he died
from "blunt head trauma.''

Attorney for Charles Kane Jr. looks to have murder indictment dismissed in death of 3-year-old





Dale Gerhard Charles Kane Jr., right, was in court Thursday, Feb. 17, with his attorney John Tumelty.

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Posted: Thursday, February 17, 2011 4:55 pm | Updated: 4:27 pm, Tue Apr 5, 2011.




www.pressofAtlanticCity.com/communities/lower_capemay/attorney-for-charles-kane-jr-looks-to-have-murder-indictment/article_d839b9d2-3ae0-11e0-a0db-001cc4c03286.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Attorney for Charles Kane Jr. looks to have murder indictment dismissed in death of 3-year-old
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE - Murder suspect Charles Kane Jr.'s attorney, John Tumelty, said Thursday he plans to make a motion to dismiss the murder indictment against his client based on the Prosecutor's Office's presentation to the grand jury.
Kane, 35, of Lower Township, is charged with killing 3-year-old Elijah Ulbrich. The boy was found unresponsive in his North Wildwood home Feb. 25, 2010, and was in a coma until he died on March 17, 2010. Prosecutors charge that Kane beat the young boy while he was babysitting him.
Kane had been expected to plead guilty to aggravated manslaughter in October, but he chose not to take part in the plea agreement, which came with a 20-year prison term. He faces between 30 years to life in prison if convicted of the murder charge.
On Thursday, Tumelty said he would file a motion to dismiss the murder charge based on the instructions given to the grand jury that handed up the indictment.
Tumelty said Kane is charged with non-intentional serious bodily injury, murder, and he questioned the way the definition of that specific charge was given.
"We're challenging the prosecutor's explanation of the law to the grand jury," Tumelty said.
In 2009, a Cape May County judge dismissed another murder indictment in the case of George J. Carty III following questions about that grand jury presentation. In that case, the judge found the state's witnesses mischaracterized key pieces of evidence. Carty was re-indicted 13 days later.
Tumelty, who is Kane's new attorney, is still reviewing discovery in the case, which First Assistant Prosecutor J. David Meyer said was quite voluminous at about 1,500 pages.
The two will present their arguments on the motion to dismiss to Superior Court Judge Kyran Connor on April 11.

Cape May grand jury indicts Lower Township man for murder in 3-year-old's death
Mon Apr 11, 2011.

www.pressofAtlanticCity.com/news/breaking/cape-may-grand-jury-indicts-lower-township-man-for-murder/article_1aeec69e-5fc3-11e0-99a4-001cc4c03286.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Cape May grand jury indicts Lower Township man for murder in 3-year-old's death By TRUDI GILFILLIAN, Staff Writer pressofAtlanticCity.com | 0 comments
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE - A grand jury Tuesday indicted Charles R. Kane Jr. on a first-degree murder charge for the second time in connection with the death of 3-year-old Elijah Ulbrich.
Kane, 35, of Lower Township, was first indicted on the murder charge and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, both second-degree crimes, on Dec. 7, 2010.
The county Prosecutor's Office alleges that on Feb. 25, 2010, while Kane was babysitting the boy in his North Wildwood home, Kane beat Elijah.
The boy was taken to Cooper University Hospital in Camden for his injuries, but he died at the hospital on March 17 after being in a coma for three weeks.
An autopsy found he died from blunt head trauma or complications from suffering blunt head trauma.
First Assistant Prosecutor J. David Meyer said Tuesday that the case was presented to a second grand jury because there was an omission in the original court record regarding at what point the first grand jury returned its true bill.
In addition, a legal instruction was clarified the second time around, he said.
According to the indictment, the second grand jury found that Kane had endangered Elijah's welfare "by willfully failing to obtain timely emergency medical treatment for Elijah Ulbrich for the serious bodily injury inflicted by Charles Richard Kane Jr."
Defense attorney John Tumelty, representing Kane, filed a motion to dismiss the first indictment based on the Prosecutor's Office instructions to the grand jury. That motion is scheduled to be heard April 11.
Kane is charged with nonintentional serious bodily injury, murder, and Tumelty questioned the way the definition of that specific charge was given to grand jurors in the first indictment.
Kane had been expected to plead guilty to aggravated manslaughter in October, but he opted not to take the plea agreement, which came with a 20-year prison term. He faces between 30 years to life in prison if convicted of murder.
Elijah's father, Richard Ulbrich, said Tuesday that he welcomed the news of the second indictment.
"We're happy with it," he said.